Patrick Lockhart Aspiring to Become one of the Youngest State Lawmaker in the U.S

He may be young, but he's old enough to get pissed off about political gridlock. Lockhart acknowledges that the shutdown in Washington proves, once again, they're screwing it up on Capitol Hill.

 He's 20 years old. He's a full-time college sophomore. He's brimming with a young man's idealism and energy, and he's running for Indiana's state legislature.

"Politics as usual is just not getting the job done," he said. "State and national politics are creating a broken system for my generation, a big mess for us to inherit. I really just decided I can't take this anymore, and we gotta do something."

We'll insert the required cliche here: A year is an eternity in politics.

But if Lockhart -- an Indiana University political science major -- wins next year's primary race and the November 2014 election, he would become the youngest member of the state's House of Representatives and among the youngest lawmakers in the nation.

Let's put it in perspective: He's challenging an Indianapolis incumbent who has held the state's mostly GOP House District 91 since before Lockhart was born.

That won't be easy. Despite growing up with a father he describes as a Ronald Reagan conservative, Lockhart has chosen to be a Democrat in a state with an overwhelmingly Republican legislature.

The whole thing started with a simple question: How can I be an intern? Lockhart asked state party officials last summer about working with his district's representative. "They said, 'we don't have a candidate. Are you interested?' " Lockhart recalled.

After doing some research and consulting with friends, "I decided that I can do this."

Soon, Lockhart knows, his days will be consumed with knocking on doors, organizing fundraisers and delivering his stump speech. Not to mention classes and part-time jobs.

- CNN